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CIS (Asian & European)

Export prices of wheat declined in June, while prices in the domestic markets remained overall stable

12/07/2018

In the exporting countries of the subregion, export prices of milling quality wheat declined in June in the Russian Federation and Ukraine, mainly influenced by the international market. However, in these countries, domestic wheat prices followed a different pattern, increasing in the Russian Federation while remaining stable in Ukraine, as downward pressure from the ongoing harvests was offset by expectations of reduced crops this year and strong domestic demand from traders. In Kazakhstan, export and domestic prices of wheat remained unchanged due to a slowdown of trading activities ahead of the new season, and were below or around their year-earlier levels reflecting good domestic availabilities. In the importing countries of the subregion, retail prices of wheat flour remained unchanged reflecting satisfactory domestic supplies and recent trends in Kazakhstan, the subregion’s main supplier. In Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, prices of wheat flour remained relatively stable in June and were slightly below or around their year-earlier values. In Uzbekistan, prices were stable as well, but higher than a year earlier amid currency weakness since the Government introduced the free-floating rate in September 2017. In Azerbaijan, prices of wheat flour remained unchanged in May and below their values a year earlier, reflecting good domestic supplies, while they were higher year-on-year in Belarus and Georgia. With respect to potatoes, another staple in the subregion, prices decreased in most countries of the subregion with the start of new harvest. Prices declined significantly in Armenia, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan in June, where expectations of this year’s harvests are good. In the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, where harvests start in July, prices strengthened in June but were well below their peaks in June 2017. In Belarus, the main exporter of the subregion, prices declined sharply in May, earlier than historical seasonal trends, and were around 40 percent below their record levels of June last year.